


though your heart is far too young to realize

by Yotsubadancesintherain5



Series: Follow Your Heart and Keep Smiling [4]
Category: Jack et la mécanique du cœur | Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2013), Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-18 06:53:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11285970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yotsubadancesintherain5/pseuds/Yotsubadancesintherain5
Summary: His heart was fragile, he did not know much about it, and the story of the person who had a heart like his so long ago was always in the back of his mind. But that fear must be addressed.





	1. the more I felt like I could see

**Author's Note:**

> Jack and the Cuckoo Clock is a strange but endearing movie. Through making nearly everyone I know to watch it, mostly to gauge their reactions, I started to like the movie more and more! I think the book should be skipped because Jack is way more unsympathetic.
> 
> The previous work, "It's the Wonder of us I sing of Tonight," is standalone as is everything in "Follow Your Heart and Keep Smiling."

The story of how his heart came to be set into place was told repeatedly throughout Luigi’s childhood. It was not magic but it very well could have been. There were rules of course, which added to the theory of magic at work. Three rules, repeated over and over, to never touch the hands of the clock heart or become wrathful or ever kiss someone.

The final, unspoken rule was to wind up your heart whenever it hurt. And that one did not need much explanation. The mechanical bird within would show itself and squawk whenever the heart did not get its required care.

Luigi did not have much opportunity to learn more about the mechanisms of his heart. The closest similarity that came to his heart was when he and his family were traveling somewhere off a coast. His brother spotted a girl walking along the shoreline, her gem heart glinting in the sunlight.

From that day on neither could remember whether the color of that heart was red or blue.

And Luigi had been diligent about this. For he heard snippets of a story about a boy with a clock heart such as his, maybe even the first one. This boy had torn out his classmate’s eye because of the mechanical bird in his heart. Luigi felt violently sick when he heard that story.

Aside from the sordid story of the past it seemed that life with a clock heart was manageable. But on the birthday he became an adult his heart burned with pain, raw and searing. It was the closest to death that he had ever been and when it finally passed after what felt like an eternity of agony Luigi realized that his heart was much more fragile that he imagined.

The mechanical bird did not return after that but he never would forget how weak his heart really was.

-

The streets were wide and connected to a huge plaza in the heart of the city. The plaza was currently hosting the annual farmers market, one that sold ribbons and vegetables and was a testament that Amberway was mostly devoid of magic.

Luigi pulled on the lapel of his jacket, the cloth obscuring his heart from view. There was nothing wrong with clock hearts, there were many types of hearts in the world that he hadn’t seen, but it was a nervous habit. The story of the boy was always in the back of his mind.

As Luigi walked through the farmer’s market, he examined the various produce there.

One stall had watermelons shaped like squares. Some were cut in half to see the outer ring of the rind and the squishy, red color inside. Another was selling various knickknacks such as tiny, stuffed dolls, little boxes, pins and glass eyes.

Next to that stall was a lucky chance challenge, a promise of a rare item or a handful of hay. Luigi considered leaving his chances up to Lady Luck, but decided against it.

As he wound around another row of stalls, Luigi’s heart suddenly dropped to his stomach; a young kid ran in front of him and tripped him underfoot. His heart ticked furiously when he regained his footing. Luigi hurriedly took a key from his pocket and wound up his heart discretely.

As he put the key back and looked up, he could see a woman selling flowers looking right at him, just a few feet away.

Her hair was orange. She wore a sleeveless dress that was yellow, with blue near the skirt portion. There was a trim of white around the hemline at the waist, a style that came from Ashborne.

Her eyes locked with his. She was looking at him with a bewildered expression. Luigi felt panic rise up within him, his thoughts racing.

The woman’s mouth curved into a smile. She turned to her cart, one filled with red and yellow tulips. She drew out a deep red rose from a tin bucket.

“A special red rose – for the cute one!”

She held out the rose in his direction.

“Oh… Me?” Luigi asked tentatively.

He took the rose and stammered, “Th-thank you.”

The woman nodded and gave him a mischievous smile. “You should visit me at my flower shop.”  
 She turned and pushed the cart, turning her head back once to give him another smile.

Luigi felt tense again, this time for her unexpected kindness. His heart’s gears spun, singing a melody of clicks.

He wrestled with his thoughts again, but when he looked at the rose he made a decision. Amberway was a pretty vast city; he hoped he wouldn’t get lost.


	2. And I had a revelation

Luigi put the rose in a jar of water when he made it home, setting it on the kitchen table. The rose earned a grin from his older brother, but there were no questions. Luigi would have appreciated that conversation starter because he was wondering how he could find the flower shop. This was because deviating from his regular paths lead to losing his way more often than not.

Luigi briefly thought about tying a ribbon to the gate that encircled home and following it back but disregarded it because it would cause more trouble than good and there wasn’t enough ribbon. He kept making and disposing plans as he tried to sleep, finally making one that would work the best: Wake up early and walk, making note of any significant landmarks. It was not an infallible plan but it would cause the least amount of trouble.

The next morning Luigi set out early, leaving a note for his brother to explain where he was going. He walked from the spot in the plaza where the woman had walked away, taking the best possible guess. He looked through the streets, mentally taking note of the landmarks; a discolored stepping stone, a weathervane in the shape of horse on a curved roof. Luigi had tripped on the discolored stepping stone, his heart squealing in protest. The key silenced the rapid tick-tocks.

When he looked up, the next street housed a flower shop. When he had entered it, wishing that she was there, he was greeted with a cheery, “Hello!”

The woman was behind the counter and exclaimed, “Ah, the cute one!”

Luigi felt his face go hot. He shook his head and stepped inside the shop.

“Hello, we, um, met at the farmers market,” he stammered. “My name is Luigi.”

“I’m Daisy,” she woman said. She smiled. “So, what’d you come all this way for?”

“I wanted to, um, thank you for the rose.”

“Aw, is that all?” Daisy playfully teased.

“I wanted to explain something,” he admitted.

He moved his jacket to show his heart, earning a puzzled look from Daisy.

“My heart is a cuckoo clock, and I thought it looked strange when I wound it up.”

 “Oh, a different heart,” she said. “I’m from Ashbourne, so I’ve seen a lot of paper hearts. I don’t know much about clock hearts.”

Luigi shrugged. “I don’t know much about them, either.”

“I know that I do find you cute. But you’re a mystery to me, and I’m a mystery to you so I’d like to change that.”

She rested her chin in her hands, waiting for his response.

“Well,” he said, “Whenever the farmers market comes into town there’s always a traveling troupe the night after in the plaza. We could go there together tonight.”

“I’d like that,” Daisy said. “I’ll see you there.”

When he left the flower shop, excitement bubbled up in Luigi and he hummed a song as he went home.

-

The traveling troupe was the same as it always was for Amberway. There was a plethora of umbrellas, like multicolored mushrooms. Balloons were spread across the plaza, and the smell of cooked food filled the air. There were stages set up, and performers displayed their talents to the audiences.

They were sitting on the steps that lead to the plaza, watching the performers.

“I had fun,” Daisy said. “Is it always like this?”

“Mostly,” Luigi replied. “I mean, one year I had to miss it because my brother and I got sick, so that one could have been different.”

“Ah, that was the year the singer floated up into the sky,” Daisy joked.

He laughed, but the conversation trailed off because Daisy clasped her hands and was staring at them. She let them go and breathed, looking at him intently.

“So, Luigi,” she said as she leaned over, “Can I kiss you?”

His shoulders stiffened and covered his heart with his hand, reflexively.

“No,” he said, his voice tight with fear, “No.”

Daisy leaned back. “Ah, I’m sorry. It’s probably too soon,” she said, a twinge of disappointment in her voice.

“No, no, it’s not that,” he replied hastily. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Luigi pointed at his heart. “If I do, my heart will… well, it’ll stop working.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” she reassured him.

“I overreacted and you didn’t know, and that was rude of me not to tell you,” he tried to say more but she lightly laughed and held up her hand.

“We’re both sorry,” Daisy said.

“Was it ever like this in Ashbourne?” he asked after a few seconds of silence.

“With paper hearts, you mean? No,” she said. “I guess the most dangerous thing was when it would rain. And even then all that would happen is that the hearts would get crinkly.”

She rested her cheek on her hand, contemplating.

“Is holding hands okay?” Daisy offered.

“It… it should be.”

Awkwardly, they waited for the other to go first, until Daisy reached over and grabbed his hand.

It was then that they could see a magic show happening at one of the stages nearby. A crowd of people gathered around a magician, who danced with large, billowing plain fabric. The fabric was crimson, and concealed the sparks discreetly set; an orchestra of pops. The magician flipped the fabric into the air, and it glimmered with tiny jewels.

When the show ended, it was Luigi who shifted his hand in such a way that they were intertwined. It was bold, but welcomed.


	3. With every mistake we must surely be learning

Daisy hummed as she worked around the flower shop. She was going to go on a date with Luigi later that day.

“No worries about the time,” she thought cheerfully. “He does have a clock for a heart.”

It had been about five months after they first met. Daisy had grown to love the sound of a ticking clock, and would sometimes turn behind her if she heard one unexpectedly. It was a bit embarrassing, but the sound made her happy nonetheless.

The door opened, and she greeted the customer with a bright, “Welcome!”

The customer was pallid, and his crimson suit was pressed and sharp. His brown hair framed over one hazel eye, the other covered by an eye patch.

He said, “You have my most sincere apologizes, but I must locate a bouquet of ten marigolds.”

“I’ll get those for you,” Daisy said. She went to collect them, and decided to make small-talk. “Who are the marigolds for?”

“A detestable boy,” the man said. “He plucked out my relative’s eye with his clock heart. It is why I wear this eye patch.”

Daisy hesitated to tie the ribbon around the stems. She wrapped the paper around the flowers and tried it off with another ribbon. She asked, hoping it wasn’t strained, “What happened to them?”

“My relative found the boy, but that urchin escaped his grasp once again,” the man said, an edge of hatred in his voice. “Justice was not served that day. Do you know where the boy could be?”

Daisy’s hands tightened around the paper, making it crinkle under her grasp. She shook her head, not daring to speak in case she lashed out.

“That boy must suffer what he did tenfold,” the man growled. He was so swept up by anger that he slammed the coins onto the counter, possibly miming what he would do to the boy if he had the chance. “These flowers will be put on his grave. I will smash his heart!”

“It wasn’t Luigi!”

At that, the dramatic speech the man was giving ceased and he seemed to shrink a little. His hands brushed at his face, still very red due to his anger.

“I’m quite sorry, my dear,” he said. “I seem to have lost my temper. Of course you wouldn’t know someone like that; a clock heart is very rare.”

As Daisy nodded, somewhat thankful he didn’t completely register what she said, the door to the shop opened again. Luigi was going to say hello, but was silenced when Daisy made a frantic motion with her hands. He walked in, confused.

The man turned around and looked directly at Luigi.

“Ah, sir, do you possess an irregular heart?”

He nodded, still looking a little lost about the whole situation that was occurring.

“I see! I do implore you to be careful. There are many dangers with such a heart.” The man took the marigolds as he said this and walked out of the shop, his face still slightly red.

At the man’s departure, Daisy sighed, “I knew it wasn’t you.”

“Wasn’t me?”

“That man said that a boy took out his relative’s eye.”

Luigi felt a sick pang in his heart. The room tilted and he felt cold all over.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice strained, “I don’t feel well. I have to take a rain-check on our date.”

“Oh, okay.” Her face fell. “Feel better, all right?”

He nodded and left the store, only running when out of sight.

-

He’d spent most of the day thinking. If he had known he would have asked that stranger about clock hearts, even if there was very little information that could be provided. All that he knew was that the little mechanical bird hadn’t appeared in so long that perhaps there was nothing to worry about. But he agonized over all the ways Daisy could get hurt because of his heart.

It was such little chance, but Luigi’s fears snowballed into more and more horrifying scenarios. It was one thing to hear the story but to come close to someone who was affected by it, even indirectly, made him feel like the world was tilted and wrong.

When Luigi finally broke out of his thoughts he was on the outskirts of town. By the time he nearly got home it was nearly daybreak and his legs burned and ached with every step. He couldn’t count how many times he got lost.

In his state, he wearily drew out his key from his pocket and wound up his heart. He thought of the mechanical bird, the boy that caused all this, he wondered if there were more stories where clock hearts caused pain.

Luigi turned the key tightly, as if that could prevent those incidents from happening. It actually hurt and he stopped doing it and he laid his head down on the table but even then weariness wouldn’t take him into sleep.

A hand affectionately tousled his hair.

“You’re back.”

He looked up to see his older brother there.

“Where were you?”

“I got lost,” Luigi replied quietly.

“What’s troubling you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

His older brother nodded.

Almost immediately, the entire story was spilled, all of his fears included.

“Well, if it’ll help put your mind at ease I don’t think a lot of people will try to look at your heart.”

 “I guess so.”

Luigi looked up at his brother.

“Big bro, am I selfish?”

“For wanting to protect Daisy, no. For not telling her about your worries, a little,” His brother continued, “You two are in this together, and if you aren’t willing to talk about this with her then maybe it’s not meant to be.”

“That’s harsh.”

“Yes, but how long are you going to hide from her?”

Luigi was quiet. He nodded solemnly, and stood up.

“Thanks for listening, big bro. I’ll be back later.”

With that, he ran and left before his brother could ask him to at least sleep.

_

Daisy headed to the shop, trying to not think about the day before. She had a feeling that the story would make Luigi uneasy, but she was too relieved to tell a lie. She didn’t foresee where this would lead, but she hoped he would be willing to smooth it over.

It was early dawn and she didn’t expect to see what – or rather, who – was in front of the shop.

It was Luigi, fast asleep in front of the shop. His back was against the wall, and his hands rested at his side, his knees drawn up to his chest.

Daisy smiled at him. She considered waking him up, but didn’t want to ruin the rare sight. She sat beside him and saw the rise and fall of his chest. Daisy quietly took his hand.

She rested her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the view of the sunrise.

It wasn’t long before she heard Luigi wake up, so she lifted her head and tried to look natural.

“Good morning,” Daisy said.

He blinked to chase away the lingering sleepiness. “Ah!”

Luigi turned his head away from her, a little mortified that he fell asleep right there.

“Good… good morning.” He remembered to not be rude, so he turned back to face her.

“Did you come all this way to thank me for a rose?” Daisy asked, grinning.

“N-no… I wanted to apologize.” He ran his free hand through his hair. “When I heard about the man’s story I panicked. I thought about what could happen with my heart, if I would hurt anyone; if I would hurt you.”

“You got scared,” Daisy said, after a moment. “That’s all right. I was just worried you were so sick you wouldn’t get home, since you didn’t sound good.”

“But I wanted to apologize. I ran away, and I’m sorry.”

Daisy placed her free hand on top of his.

“My heart can be dangerous, too,” she replied. “I mean, isn’t a heart the key to emotions? But I had to learn so that it wouldn’t control me. That’s what you can do, too. Our hearts might be dangerous, but they can be controlled.”

He thought of his key and the little bird that hadn’t show up in so long that it could’ve been mistaken to have never existed at all. He realized that he wasn’t willing to let go of the relationship.

“So you accept my dangerous heart?” Luigi asked.

“I do,” she replied. “Do you accept my dangerous heart?”

He nodded and would have kissed her if not for the threat of death. Daisy grinned and touched her free hand’s fingers to her lips.

“Do you think this’ll count?”

“No, I suppose not.”

She pressed her fingers to his mouth. When she drew them away Luigi pushed himself closer to her.

“Should… we go open the shop?”

Daisy shook her head, and squeezed his hand a little tighter.

“It can wait,” she said as she rested her head on his shoulder again. “I’d rather stay here for a little while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this.
> 
> Title comes from Sleeping at Last's "Light." Chapter one title comes from The Audreys' "Sometimes the Stars." Chapter two title comes from Sleeping at Last's "Venus." Chapter three title comes from The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."


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